John Lewis Award for History and Social Justice
Established in 2021, the prize is offered annually to recognize a historian for leadership and sustained engagement at the intersection of historical work, public culture, and social justice. The prize is named in memory of John Lewis (1940–2020), the civil rights leader who represented Georgia with grace and distinction in the United States House of Representatives for 34 years. All of us, insisted Lewis, must “study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time.” The prize was established with an endowment gift from the Agentives Fund.
The current prize amount is $1,000. See the list of past recipients.
Eligibility
Nominations will be accepted for individuals and collaborative groups. Nominees may include professional historians whose accomplishments exemplify the value of professional historical work to public culture and social justice.
Application Process
Log into your MY AHA account at historians.org/myaha and click “Available Application Forms” in the AHA Awards, Grants, and Jobs section. If you don't have an account, create one for free at historians.org/createaccount. If nominating someone else, select the Nominate button and search for the nominee’s existing record or create a new record. (For a group nomination, select one person to be the main nominee and include other names later.)
- Fill in the application form, which includes the nominee’s contact information and the names of additional nominees (if group nomination).
- Upload an Application Packet as a single PDF. Include the following document:
- Nomination letter describing the individual’s or group’s contribution to social justice and public culture through historical work
- One additional letter of support
- CV (up to 10 pages) or link to equivalent web-based documentation (in case of group, maximum of 5 pages for each nominee)
Nominations not selected in previous years may be resubmitted with updates.
Please Note: Entries must be received by May 15, 2024, to be eligible for the 2024 competition. Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2024 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2025 AHA annual meeting in New York.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
2023 Lewis Award for History and Social Justice
Joe William Trotter, Carnegie Mellon University
Joe William Trotter’s record as a leader and institution builder engaged in the work of civil rights and social justice stretches back over 50 years to his days as an undergraduate student at Carthage College, when he served as a founding member and president of the Afro-American Society at this small, overwhelmingly white, Lutheran college south of Milwaukee. He has continued to be an exemplary leader since then. Since 1995, Trotter has served as the director of the Center for African American Urban Studies and the Economy (CAUSE) at Carnegie Mellon University. This center has served as the launching point for important community-based research, activities, and projects designed to enhance connections between the university and the wider community. The public lectures, teacher workshops, community archiving projects, and mentorship available to junior scholars through CAUSE are evidence of the powerful ways bold and rigorous scholarship can stand in service to civil rights and community groups and activists.